Quanzhou, Fujian

"Zayton" (the Coral Tree City)—a symbol that gleamed across the medieval world in the journals of Marco Polo—derived its name from the coral trees (Erythrina variegata) planted extensively by Liu Congxiao during the Five Dynasties period. It is more than a mere geographical marker of Quanzhou’s status as the "Greatest Port of the East"; it serves as a powerful metaphor for Materiality. The fiery red blossoms once acted as a terrestrial lighthouse for mariners, symbolizing the profound entanglement between foreign civilizations and the local red-brick soil, constructing Quanzhou’s primordial imagination of globalization.

From an anthropological perspective, Quanzhou is not merely a sedimentary rock of history but a living "laboratory of civilization." Here, social practice manifests what Wang Mingming advocates as "Generalized Humanities" (Guangyi Renwen Guanxi). This framework transcends the narrow "human-to-human" scope of modern secular society, integrating deities, ancestors, and even the "others" of the netherworld into the network of social interaction. In the Quanzhou cosmology, community boundaries are fluid; through ritual and daily sacrifice, the living and the dead, the human and the spectral, together construct a "Supra-social System."

The British anthropologist Stephan Feuchtwang, through his profound insights into Minnan folk beliefs, interprets these relationships as the production of "Ling" (Charismatic Efficacy) and "Imperial Metaphors." Within the intricate labyrinth of Quanzhou’s alleys and temples, deities are not just supernatural protectors but spiritual cornerstones of local moral order and community identity. As Feuchtwang points out, by interacting with and "settling" spirits and ghosts, the populace established a cultural logic of justice, reciprocity, and "uncertainty management" amidst the volatile life of the maritime frontier.

Regarding the contemporary landscape of Quanzhou as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the theories of Michael Rowlands provide a critical entry point. Rowlands emphasizes that heritage is not a collection of cold monuments, but a "symbiotic relationship between objects and people." The stone pagodas, ancient bridges, and wood carvings blackened by incense smoke are all material media linking social relations in the Rowlandsian sense. The vitality of heritage lies not in its frozen physical state, but in its role as a carrier of "generalized humanities," continuously generating affect and meaning in contemporary life.

This season’s theme, "Echoes of Zayton," aims to guide students into the heart of Quanzhou’s field sites. Utilizing methods of spatial ethnography, material culture analysis, and participant observation, we will explore the following within specific spatio-temporal coordinates:

• The Everydayness of the Supra-social System: Tracing the "human-spirit interactions" described by Wang Mingming to observe how spiritual forces intervene in contemporary community governance.
• The Spatio-temporal Geography of Efficacy: Examining Feuchtwang’s "Imperial Metaphors" to find cultural resonances spanning a millennium within the ruins of the ancient port.
• Material Narratives of Heritage: Drawing on Rowlands’ perspective to investigate how the stone and timber of the Coral City serve as intermediaries, linking global history with local existential wisdom.

This is not merely a research journey through a thousand-year-old port; it is a philosophical meditation unfolding between red bricks and ocean waves, contemplating how humanity situates the sacred and the historical.